Guitar-bridge



(No Model.)

- G. B. DURKEE.

GUITAR BRIDGE.

No. 858,847. Patented Ma.1^.8,188'7.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE B. DURKEE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GUITAR-BRIDGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358,847, dated March 8,1887.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that l, GEORGE B. DURKEE, a citizen of the United States,residing in Ohicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in the Method of Attaching Stringsto Guitars, of which the following is a specification.

In the construction of guitar-bridges prior to my invention the bridgehas been provided with a series of vertical bores or sockets with anotch merging into and at one side of each one of said sockets, thewell-known mode of attaching the strings to such bridges being to engagethe string in the notches with their knots below the same, and to thennt a set of loose pins in the sockets as keepers for the Undersucharrangement the strings frequently break, both by reason of the sharpangular bends occurring at the points where they enter the notches andby reason of the strain exerted upon their knotted terminals, and,inaddition to such objectionable features, the notches are apt to becomein time so worn as to render it difficult to tie in a string a knot (lthat shall not pull through the notch to which it is allotted.

The objectsv of my invention arc to obviate such defects, and to providean improved construction whereby greater Vdurability in the structure isattained, all detrimental wear of parts avoided, the feature of notchesdispensed with, and the bridge braced and held more securely upon thesounding-board ofthe guitar.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other useful ends my inventionconsists in matters hereinafter described,and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l represcntsa top plan View of a portionof a guitarbridge withmy improvement applied thereto, the pins or pegsbeing shown in cross-section at points just above the strings, and aportion of the bridge being shown broken away at a point adjacent to oneof the pins or pegs so as to illustrate one of the string-passages. Fig.2is a front elevation of the bridge witha portion of the sounding-boardof a guitar shown in cross-section. Fig. 3 is atransverse sectionthrough Fig. 2 on a plane through one of the yever,shown in elevation.

of a string supposed to be attached to the bridge as in Fig. 3. Fig. 5represents atransverse section through the bridge with the pin shown inelevation and at its lower end cut off flush with the bottom of thebridge, the string-passage being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 6 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 5, but with the pin extended down through and below thebridge and provided with a stop or shoulder for limiting the extent towhich it may be passed into the bridge. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectionof the old form of guitar-bridge with the string and itskeeper applied.Fig. 8 is a top plan View of a portion of the bridge of F ig. 7.

In said drawings, A denotes the guitarbridge, which,when applied to aguitar,is iitted upon and glued to the sounding-board D of 7o thelatter, as usual.

The bridge is provided with a set of pins or pegs, B, (one for eachstring,) which are fitted and held in bores or sockets arranged toextend down through the bridge. The length of each pin is such that whenproperly applied to the bridge it shall project to some extent above thesame, in order to expose above the bridge a portion of the cylindricstem orbody portion of the pin.

The bridge is further provided with a series of small bores, a',arranged to forni stringpassages extending from the pins toward thefront or rear, but preferably toward the vertical front side of thebridge, along which said side the bores terminate in or are expanded inarea to form a series of knot-chambers, a, one for each string. Thestring-passages a incline downwardly from and are arranged tangential totheir respectively-allotted pins, with their lower ends opening into theknotchambers and their upper ends opening at points adjacent to butabove the points where the pins pass down into the bridge. In this way,after a string has been knotted at one end, it can be inserted throughone of the knot-chambers and the string-passage leading therefronnandthen drawn up until the knot is drawn snugly with the knot-chamber, asin Figs. I or 3, after which, but before passing the string forward overthe bridge-fret C, it can be carried any desired number of times aroundthe pin allotted to this particular string.

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It will be observed that the frictional eontact between the eylindricsurface of the pin and the portion of the string which is coiled aroundit absorbs, so to speak, the tension which would otherwise be exertedupon the knotted terminal of the string when the latter is tuned up tothe proper pitch. In this way the knotted terminal of the string isfreed from undue strain, and hence is rendered less liable to break thanwhere the knotted terminal of the string is engaged in a notch formed atone side of a bore or socket anda pin fitted in said base or socketmerely as a keeper, as illustrated by Figs. 7 and S, which serve torepresent the commonly-adopted mode of attaching the strings of a guitarto the bridge. It will also be observed that the sharp angular bend inthe string incident to the old method of attachment, as exemplified inFig. 7, is avoided, since under my improvement the string approaches andleaves the pin in lines tangential to the cylindric surface oi' the pin.This will be fully understood by referring to Figs. 1 and 3, and also toFig. 4, in which latter the position assumed by the string in the saidiirst-mentioned igures is clearly defined.

At the points where the pegs or pins pass down into the bridge thelatter may be recessed, or practically the holes or sockets for the pinsexpanded at their upper ends, so as to provide shallow recesses a,through which the upper end portions of the pins pass centrally. Thisarrangement provides around each pin a space for the coiled portion ofthe string, and by permitting the coil to lie in the body of the bridgeallows the head of t-he pin to be set closer down to the bridge, thusavoiding an undesirable height of pin and rendering the device neat andcompact. The stringpassages a open at their upper ends into saidrecesses, ai, where the latter are employed, as indicated by thesectional views in the drawings.

In Figs. 2, 3, and 6 the pins pass through and extend below the bridge,so as to enter and pass through the sounding-board D of the guitar, aportion of said board being represented in Fig. 3.

The pins may be removably iitted in the bridge and soundingboard; butpreferably they are firmly glued or cemented, or otherwise permanentlyfastened in place, this permanency of attachment on the part of the pinsnot only preventing them from dropping out, but also serving to moreeifectively hold the bridge on the soundingboard and brace the bridgeagainst the strain which will be exerted upon it when the strings aretightened up.

In order to avoid any undesirable prominence on the part of theknot-chambers c, the bridge is provided with a longitudinally-ar rangedgroove and the knot-chambers formed in a line along the back or bottomwall of such groove, as indicated in Fig. 2, wherein the groove is shownformed along the front side oi the bridge.

In some instancesit may be desirable to apply the pins to the bridgesbefore the bridges are secured to the guitar and thereby permit theguitar-brace to be made as an article of inanuiacture by one party, andapplied to the guitar by another party. In such case the lower end ofthe pins can be cut oif iiush with the bottom of the bridge, as in Fig.5, and the pins, if desired, secured in the bridge by glue or cement.

In Fig. 6 I have shown one of the pins reduced in diameter for thegreater portion of its length, so as to provide at a point near'the headot' the pin a shoulder, which, when the pin is inserted in the bridge tothe proper extent, will rest upon the bridge. The object of thisshoulder is to provide a stop `which serves to limit the extent to whichthe pin can be passed down into and through the bridge, the string beingin such instance wound around the enlarged portion Z of the pin thatoccurs between the head of the pin and the said shoulder. This featureserves to prevent au unskilled person from passing the pin too far downinto the bridge in instances where it may f be found desirable to supplythe bridges with the pins loose.

In conclusion, it may be remarked that it has been heretofore proposedto provide the tail-piece of a violin with a set of headed studsarranged upon the body of the tail-piece, and to provide in the frontend of said tail-piece a series of notches corresponding in number tothe number of studs,with each notch arranged directly in front of onestud, and with a space IOO intervening between said studs and notches.

Under such construction the knotted terminals of the strings are engagedin the notches. and the string then carried back and around the studs,after which they are passed forward to the tuning-head of theinstrument. Under such arrangement the strings are undoubtedly carriedaround cylindric bearing-surfaces, but sharp angular bends at the pointswhere the strings enter the notches are not avoided, and where cachstring crosses itself at a point in front of its allotted stud the wearupon the string at its point of crossing is liable to soon weaken thestring. It will also be observed that such construction is notpracticable in a guitar-bridge, since a violin tail-piece is at itsforward end raised above the body of the instrument, while aguitar-bridge lies fiat upon and is rigidly secured to the face orsounding-board,77 as it is usually termed, of the guitar.

That I claim as my invention isl. A guitar-bridge provided with a seriesof string-passages, a, combined with a series ol' pins rising from thebridge at 'points adjacent to the upper terminals ol thestring-passages, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A guitar-bridge provided with a series of string-passages, c',combined with a series ol pins rising from the bridge at points adjacent to the upper terminals of the string-passages, which latterterminate at their lower ends in knot receiving chambers arranged alongone of the vertical sides of the bridge, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

3. AIguitar-bridge provided With a series of string-passages,terminating at their upper ends in the recesses al, combined withthepins rising from the bridge at points Within said recesses,substantially as and for thepurpose described.

4. A guitar-bridge provided with a series of string-passages, combinedwith the pins B, applied to extend down through the bridge and to riseto some extent above the same at points adjacent to the upper terminalsof the string-passages, substantially as described.

Y5. A guitar-bridge provided with a series of string-passages, combinedwith a setof pins extended down through both the bridge and thesounding-board of the guitar, said pins being applied to project to someextent above the bridge, and the string passages being formed toterminate at their upper ends at points adjacent to the pins,substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. A guitar-bridge provided with stringpassages a', combined with pinstted into bores formed through the bridge, and provided With shoulderswhich provide enlarged portions b of the pins at points above thebridge, substantially as described.

GEO. B. DURKEE.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. GOLDING, J. FIELDHoUsE, Jr.

